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TOKYO -- Japan is warming to esports -- multiplayer video-game competitions that can draw big crowds and offer cash prizes -- but industry insiders say legal barriers are keeping a potentially major industry in the minor leagues.
Esports -- short for electronic sports -- is already big business in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia, where purses for some events can soar to the tens of millions of dollars.
The prize money in Japan is pocket change by comparison. That is because of the act against unjustifiable premiums and misleading representations, which puts a 100,000 yen ($895) cap on cash prizes for events deemed to be aimed at selling a specific product.
Hirokazu Hamamura, president of newly established game company Gzbrain, says the cash prize limit is stifling business opportunities.
"If it weren't for that law, we could hold as many big-prize events as we like," said Hamamura, whose company was launched on July 3 by Kadokawa Dwango.
asia.nikkei.com
Esports -- short for electronic sports -- is already big business in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia, where purses for some events can soar to the tens of millions of dollars.
The prize money in Japan is pocket change by comparison. That is because of the act against unjustifiable premiums and misleading representations, which puts a 100,000 yen ($895) cap on cash prizes for events deemed to be aimed at selling a specific product.
Hirokazu Hamamura, president of newly established game company Gzbrain, says the cash prize limit is stifling business opportunities.
"If it weren't for that law, we could hold as many big-prize events as we like," said Hamamura, whose company was launched on July 3 by Kadokawa Dwango.
Legal barrier hobbles esports in game-crazy Japan
Prize-money cap preventing country from joining global video-game-competition boom
asia.nikkei.com
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